1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat air-conditioning system that supplies air-conditioned air of a vehicle air-conditioning unit into the inside of vehicle seats and blows out from the seats.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,018 or corresponding Japanese Patent Application JP-A-11-28928 discloses a vehicle seat air-conditioning system. The disclosed vehicle-seat-air-conditioning system supplies air-conditioned air of a main air-conditioning unit for a passenger compartment to the inside of vehicle seats though a rear foot duct.
The main air-conditioning unit includes a unit case, in which a cool-air duct, a warm-air duct, and a rear foot duct are formed and an air-switching door is disposed between the cool-air duct and the warm-air duct. The rear foot duct is connected to the inside of the seat.
When an air-blow mode of the air-conditioning unit is a foot mode, the air-switching door connects the rear foot duct to the warm-air duct to supply warm air. On the other hand, when the air-blow mode is a face mode, the air-switching door connects the rear foot duct to the cool-air duct to supply cool air.
However, the above-described vehicle seat air-conditioning system cannot provide air-conditioned air different from air-conditioned air supplied to the passengers on the rear seat. For example, if the main air-conditioning unit is operated by a driver in the bi-level (B-L) mode, cooled air blows on the feet of the rear-seat passenger whether he or she likes it or not. If, on the other hand, the main air-conditioning unit is operated in the defroster (DEF) mode, no air blows on the feet of the rear-seat passenger whether he or she likes it or not. In addition, the air-switching door necessitates additional volume and cost of the main air-conditioning unit.